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Definition of "dead-end" []

  • Having no exit. (adjective)
  • Permitting no opportunity for advancement: a dead-end job. (adjective)
  • Informal Tough and rowdy: a dead-end gang. (adjective)
  • To terminate with no exit or possibility of advancement: The road dead-ends at the lake. That job dead-ends at the end of the year. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "dead-end" in a sentence
  • "Long-time opposition leader turned elected president of Guinea, Alpha Conde, warned that without development for impoverished communities, democracy could become what he called a dead-end."
  • "Most househunters have monetary considerations and having an idea of the price saves maybe a dozen or so dead-end phone calls or inquiries."
  • "Bexley Place is a short, dead-end road just east of St. Barnabas Road, originating from Old Branch Avenue."
Words like "dead-end"
east-west
high-vaulted
high-walled
ill-lit
rubble-strewn
steep-sided
steep-walled
stone-flagged